reading watching listening loving eating

 

reading 

 my first Agatha Christie novel

watching 

 nosferatu

listening 

 the weeknd - the boy is obsessed

loving 

 my haul from the garden center

 

eating 

spicy chicken gumbo

 

limping into 2024

 happy new year!  as shocked as i still am at how quickly we raced through 2023, i am always glad for the fresh start of a new month, or a new year.

2024.

crazy.

i had hoped to arrive in the new year a bit more organized, a bit more together and with it, but the last 2 weeks of december walloped me.  both kids got sick, i got further and further behind at work, no matter what i did, my mental health started to decline and then BOOM.  i didn't just get sick, i got SICK.

from the 22nd to the 30th i was knocked on my ass by illness.  

i did not enjoy it.

i'm still not all better, but better enough to be bitter that i have to start back at work tomorrow.  i feel like i missed my days off because i was too sick to do anything, but at the same time i am thankful i was off for them and didn't have to take sick days and fall father behind.  but still a bit bitter.  

in addition to not doing anything fun with the family, i didn't get any of my cleaning, organizing, cooking or figuring stuff out for 2024 done.  oh well.

here's some stuff that happened in december

i joined an actual book club.  very exciting.

deli turkey, cream cheese, pickles.  MMMMMMMMM

my menu planning was one of the first casualties of december, but this was a tasty mongolian ground beef noodles from early december.

baked crescent roll sandwiches and pureed veggie soup from that same week.

art with the kids

the girl and the mister made a little charcoot plate for my online book club meeting

another pantry clean out

a chicken stew that i added too many peas to

pear struesel cake

car wash

this was our christmas breakfast - egg and cheese biscuits with fruit and meat and cheese.  i had to lie down after i took this photo to recover from helping the mister get it ready.

we had gumbo for christmas dinner, with chicken and sausage and shrimp and scallops, and the girl had kraft dinner.  again, i could hardly sit at the table for a few minutes with the family before i needed to go collapse in the living room.  it was not my favorite holiday season.

i'll have the last of my 2023 book club reads this week so i can do my recap, and then we'll move on to new stuff in 2024!

happy new year, happy monday.  xo

gumbo

 We were cleaning out the freezer a while back and unearthed some ground chicken and turkey bones.  I was anxious to use them up as I wasn't sure how long they'd been in there and puzzled over what to do with them.  Chicken chili?  Meatball soup?  But then the best idea came - GUMBO. 

 I used Lucy Buffett's recipe as the starting point for the roux and veggies and broth quantities - using my turkey stock I made in the instant pot from the bones - and then added in chicken meatballs from the ground chicken and some leftover sausage from the fridge.  

I served rice and steamed spinach on the side, and once we had dinner, I stirred the spinach into the leftovers for me and The Mister, since the kids are anti-spinach and anti-leftovers.

It was probably the best gumbo I've made, and it DEFINITELY tasted better the next day.

The Mister suggested gumbo for Christmas Day but was shouted down by The Boy and The Grandpa, so we'll be having it New Years Day instead.  Maybe a new tradition?

Sunday Dinner - Gumbo

I am not a big seafood fan but the rest of the fam likes it, so lately I've been trying to add more of it to our menu for them.  I found this recipe at Food 52 and I do like Gumbo so I made it for a Sunday Dinner.

There are 2 pretty big changes I made to the recipe - I used baby shrimp instead of the medium shrimp called for.  I don't mind baby shrimp and they are so cute looking floating around in a soup.

Anyway, back when I found this recipe we were actually having shrimp for dinner that night so I saved the shells and froze them, so I already had the shells to make the stock which made the decision to use the baby shrimp and easy one.

The other change I did was to use 1 1/2 times of all the ingredients except the shrimp and the rice, to make it a bit more soupy, the way we like it, and to stretch it a bit further.  It was a good choice.

This was an excellent meal and even though The Grandpa and The Mister were a bit skeptical ("You mean there's no okra?  It isn't a gumbo if you don't use okra!" and "What kind of sausage are you using?  No sausage?  OH.") THEY LOVED IT TOO.

Very very delicious recipe here - Shrimp Gumbo

Gumbo Love by Lucy Buffett

Everyone has that one (or two, or 84) places on their bucket list that they would love to go to - say, Paris, or London, for some - and one of my dream destinations has always been to go to the Gulf Coast - to see the ocean and visit Texas, or Alabama, or Louisiana.  To see the water and the beaches and of course, eat the FOOD.  It's pretty unlikely that I will fulfill that dream to see that part of the world, but I feel a little closer to it thanks to Gumbo Love by Lucy Buffett.

I am going to say right up front - I love everything about this book.  The photographs are gorgeous - food and scenery that leaps from the page to grab you.  Lucy's introduction shares a bit of her life story and her personality comes through.  One of my favorite parts of the book is her "Ten Grateful Ingredients For A Bright Life And A Happy Kitchen".  There is always room for more gratitude and optimism.

And the recipes!  Once you've read the short section on gulf coast cooking essentials - roux, file, stocks and more - you get to Chapter 1 - desserts first!  This made me happy and continues the wonderful tone of the book.  In total there are 10 chapters of recipes and one of menu planning and suggestions.  The book covers a lot of territories - snacks, mains, vegetables, salads,  sandwiches, drinks, sauces, and soups and - yes, lots of Gumbo.

The recipes are clear and easy to follow, with helpful hints substitutions offered by Lucy.  Most recipes are a page to a page and a half long, and none feel overly complicated or daunting.

I wanted to start with a gumbo (of course!) and  we chose Gumbo Z'Herbe or Green Gumbo - loaded with veggies and greens and sausage.  It took about 2 hours to make, and was AMAZING.  Even the kids ate some, which is high praise.  The Mister and I loved it and each had 2 bowls and argued over the leftovers.  It was a dish I was pretty impressed with myself for making - damn, I'm good.

To make the gumbo I also had to whip up a batch of Lulu's Crazy Creola Seasoning.  Simple but has a total punch of flavor.

We also tried the Salted Butterscotch Blondies (without the optional but encouraged icing) which were very easy to make and very very delicious.  I took some to work to share and not only did they disappear quickly, but I had multiple requests for the recipe.

I whipped up a batch of Wow Sauce, a spicy and flavorful sauce to spread on pretty much anything you can think of, and a batch of the Fresh Herb and Garlic Cheese Spread, which was another amazing recipe.  The Mister and I both loved it a lot, but the real fan was the 2 year old, who parked herself at the table and ate the cheese spread on carrots and celery until we feared there would be none left for us, and we took it away from her.

The last dish we tried was the Easy Breezy Island Shrimp Curry, which was so easy and so delicious - everyone loved it. (The book calls for serving with rice or spinach, but we went with noodles for the kids and it was very good.)

That's all we've tried so far, but I have a super long list of recipes I want to try soon, including Honey Ale Pimento Cheese, Garlicky Good-Woman Chicken, Southern Fried Cream Corn, Chocolate Angel Food Cake, and French Onion Soup.  Yum!

Gumbo Love is being released tomorrow, and I really encourage you to buy it. It's a fun, informative and above all delicious book.  It's really great.

Thank you so much, Hachette Books!

VGT 100

I saw this over at Mary's the other day, and she saw it at Stephanie's, who found it over at Very Good Taste - the 100 things that Very Good Taste thinks everyone should eat at least once in their life. Here's what you do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

Here's my results -

1. Venison - I do not eat venison, but was tricked into trying some. Not once, but twice, in my 20's. I think that's very mean.
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses - had to google this, it's a type of cheese washed in rainwater. doesn't that sound romantic?
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes - Elephant Island, baby.
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal - google - hottest type of curry
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel - yuck.
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin - i don't know, google is giving me clay. but i wouldn't eat clay.
64. Currywurst - sausage with curry and ketchup???? yes please!
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette jesus! nononononononononono
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost i would try this. google revealed that a cheese shop i used to go to in calgary sells it. wish i'd known that last year.
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake - I think i had snake once. I'll have to check with Scott.